


Red

by heartsdesire456



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Age Difference, Flirting, Gen, Homophobia, M/M, Non-Graphic Violence, Not Canon Compliant, Past Child Abuse, Pre-Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-16
Updated: 2016-09-16
Packaged: 2018-08-15 08:08:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,364
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8048779
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/heartsdesire456/pseuds/heartsdesire456
Summary: It was only Barry’s super speed that prevented the coffees in his hand from hitting the floor when he got back to their table at Jitters, where Cisco and Caitlin were waiting for him with Iris, and saw the last person he ever expected to see standing there.





	Red

**Author's Note:**

> This is just a little something I wrote mostly because I said on tumblr I was gonna write a fic for this pairing, and I wanted them flirting. SO yeah, this happened!

It was only Barry’s super speed that prevented the coffees in his hand from hitting the floor when he got back to their table at Jitters, where Cisco and Caitlin were waiting for him with Iris, and saw the last person he ever expected to see standing there.

“Lisa?!” he asked, fumbling to put the coffee’s he’d caught down on the table before he dropped them again.

She turned around and he was surprised to see genuine fear in her eyes, not unlike that when she had been at their labs with the bomb in her neck. “Yes?” she asked, frowning. “How do you-“

“We have your photo on file,” Cisco said quickly, and Barry remembered last second that Lisa didn’t know who he was. “The procedure we did on you was a good case to study.”

Lisa looked at Barry doubtfully. “So he’s on your ‘team’?” she asked, and Caitlin nodded.

“Yes, Barry works with our ‘friend’ as well,” she said, putting her hand on Barry’s arm. “Speaking of, Barry, if you could go call our friend in red, we need him at STAR Labs immediately,” she said, sliding off her chair to grab her coat.

Barry nodded. “Yeah, sure, I’ll get right on it.” He looked at Lisa. “What should I tell him is wrong?” he asked, and she looked up at him with _tearful_ eyes.

“It’s my brother. They’re gonna kill him.”

~

Barry, in his Flash outfit, was waiting impatiently when finally Cisco, Caitlin, and Iris walked in with Lisa Snart. “Iris?” he asked, and she just shrugged.

“What? I want to know what’s happening.

Cisco strode forward, going immediately for the computer station. “Oh, something’s happening alright. I rode with Lisa to get here, and oh man.” He nodded to them absently. “Lisa, tell them,” he said, already typing away.

She looked at Barry. “Lenny’s doing a job-“

Barry held up a hand. “I thought he was working with the good guys now? Time traveling, hunting the bad guy, all that?”

She huffed. “He and Mick had a fight, so they both quit for a while. And that’s the problem! Mick isn’t with him!” she said quickly. “He’s doing a job with Mardon and Bivolo, and this woman called to tell me it was a set-up. They’re mad at him for not helping them kill you, and when they heard he was back in town and looking for a job to do without Mick, they asked him to join them, but this woman, I don’t know who she was, she wasn’t giving her name, but she said the plan originally was to just give him a beat-down, but then something changed, she didn’t know what, they wouldn’t tell her, but they decided to set him up and take him out, so she got out of it and called me to let me know.”

Barry wasn’t sure where to start there, but he decided to take it one step at a time. “Okay, do you know what job they’re doing?” he asked, and she shook her head rapidly.

“No! That’s why I need your help! It’s tonight, that’s all I know. I haven’t been to visit him, because I didn’t want to get into a fight about him being a dick to Mick after all Mick’s done for him – again – and when I called Mick, he said he hadn’t heard anything from Lenny since they got back and went their separate ways,” she said in a rush. “You guys have to find him! Whatever it is you do to hunt him down, I need your help.”

Iris cleared her throat. “And why should we help?” she asked. “Last I heard, you two betrayed Team Flash, and then when you did come back for help, they put your brother in prison, only he busted out and _broke in my house_.”

Barry held up a hand. “Iris, he’s been good, okay? And if he’s in danger, we should help,” he argued.

Iris looked at him like he was crazy. “She just said that he’s pulling a heist!”

Barry sighed, rolling his eyes. “We have an agreement. About him not hurting people. He may or may not have pulled a lot more heists than you guys know about in between his stints saving the world, I just stop him and make him put the stuff back before turning my back so he can escape.”

Lisa smirked. “It keeps him occupied,” she said simply. 

“Got him!” Cisco said, standing up. “He’s on the corner of thirty-third and Harper, they’re knocking over a jewelry store. CCPD hasn’t found out yet, but I found his cold gun’s signature and the street cameras show they’re inside the store. He must’ve frozen the security sensors.”

Barry darted around and leaned down to look at the screen. “Does it look like-“

“He’s in danger, no,” Cisco said.

Caitlin leaned down. “Oh crap, look again,” she said, quickly typing. Lisa and Iris both came running around as the camera feed went full-screen, just in time for Lisa to let out a strangled gasp as Mardon came up behind Snart and kicked him in the back of the knees, knocking him to the ground.

“Shit,” Barry said, and then, in a second, he was running across the city. He clicked on his earpiece just as he skidded to a stop inside the jewelry store, only to spin around, confused to see it empty. “Cisco?”

“They took him through the back door!” Barry sped out back, only to come upon the sight of Mardon holding a gun between Snart’s eyes as he sat on his knees, blood pouring from his nose as he swayed a little, eyes swollen. Rather than wait for Mardon to pull the trigger, Barry darted forward and snatched Snart up and out of the way of the bullet just before it was fired. He dropped Snart to the side and, before Mardon or Bivolo could react, he flashed them inside the jewelry store, slamming their heads together – ignoring how Caitlin yelled at him that he shouldn’t risk killing them – and dropped them on the floor in front of the front door just before he kicked it, shattering it and setting off the alarm. 

“CCPD will get here before they wake up,” Barry said, panting as he looked around. He spotted Cold’s gun on the floor and picked it up. “Just to be safe, I’m gonna bring Snart to you, then come right back,” he said, flashing out back to Snart. 

He didn’t get a good look at Snart before, but where he lay on the ground, dragging himself on his elbows, unable to even get to his hands and knees, it was clear he didn’t just have a bloody nose. “Hang on,” he said as he picked Snart up and took off. 

It took thirty-seven seconds to get to STAR labs and deposit Snart on Caitlin’s hospital bed before flashing back to the scene of the crime. In the minute he was gone, the sirens from the approaching cop cars were already audible. He waited with Mardon and Bivolo until CCPD got inside. He nodded to Officer Horn and then took off out the back.

“Barry,” Cisco said over the comms when Barry was almost back to STAR Labs. “Lisa’s going after them. Snart is pretty hurt, so Lady Snart is pretty pissed.”

Barry groaned. “Damn it. I’ll get her, just tell me where she is,” he said, turning around to go after her car.

~

Lisa did not like Barry stopping her from breaking Mardon and Bivolo out of police custody and kicking their asses for hurting her brother. “Your brother agreed to not kill people, and you’re part of his crew, so you count,” he said as he physically carried her kicking and complaining into STAR Labs. He sat her down beside Cisco, and ignored the big, wide eyes she turned on him.

“But they hurt my big brother, Flash. I thought you were a good guy?” she asked, pouting.

Barry rolled his eyes behind the cowl. “I’m not Cisco or your brother, pout at one of them,” he said, and Cisco glared at Barry. “How is Snart?” he asked.

“I’ll live.” Barry turned around, surprised to see Snart up and walking, and by the looks of Caitlin’s frustrated face as she followed him, she didn’t want him to be. He limped a little, and one of his eyes was swollen shut, but other than that, it seemed he wasn’t really injured. “I have a request about that deal of ours,” he drawled, looking at Barry. “Think you can make an exception for a couple of metahumans-“

“No, you can’t kill them. They’re going to Iron Heights,” Barry said flatly. “Same place they busted you out of. To kill me, I might add.”

Leonard raised an eyebrow at him. “Oh? And I did come warn you about that. No thanks, huh?” He looked at Iris. “Are you as annoying to your brother as Lisa is to me?” he asked, clearly not expecting an answer. 

“Lenny, that woman said they were gonna kill you!” Lisa argued, crossing her arms. “Are you saying you wouldn’t ask The Flash for help if you knew someone was gonna kill me?” she demanded.

Barry expected another snarky retort, but he also wasn’t very surprised when Snart rested his hands on the table and let his head hang between his shoulders with a heavy sigh. “No, you know I would go to whoever could help,” he grumbled. He lifted his head, looking at his sister. “I’m fine, Lisa.”

She gave him a stern look. “Now will you make up with Mick? Or take me next time you want to pull a job just for fun?”

“No,” he said simply, standing up. He put his hands on his hips and looked over at Barry. Without his parka, Snart looked less menacing, especially with the bruises all over his face. He was wearing nothing but a dirty and somewhat bloody gray tee-shirt that, with his hands as they were, stretched tight over his chest and highlighted just how much of a normal guy he looked like, not a giant like Mick Rory. “Thanks, Red. I owe you one,” he said with a respectful tilt of his head. “Lisa, let’s go,” he said, holding out his hand. Lisa glanced at Cisco and Snart rolled his eyes. “You can call your nerd later, Lisa. I need about thirty ice packs right now.”

“Actually,” Caitlin said, voice wavering slightly. “As the doctor that treated you, I still think you should stay overnight. Make sure there’s no internal bleeding. Also, I can lock up your Cold Gun so you can’t take it with you if you refuse medical advice.”

“Oh really,” Snart said, turning around to face her, only to overbalance and stumble to the side. Barry darted forward, catching him before he could fall over. Snart shook his head some, and then looked up at Barry, raising an eyebrow at Barry’s arms around him. “Well now, Red, you didn’t even ask me to dance,” he teased, smirking when Barry noticed their position, as if Barry had dipped his dance partner, and flushed almost red enough to match the suit. Barry stood upright, stepping back from Snart, who swayed just a bit before finding his balance.

“I rest my case,” Caitlin said simply.

Snart sighed dramatically, but nodded. “Alright, Dr. Snow, I’ll stick around for a while. Just in case,” he said simply. “It’s been a while since I was gay-bashed, and it seems I forgot how brutal that beating can be,” he murmured as he rubbed at the side of his head.

“Whoa, wait, _what_?!” Cisco asked. “Mardon and Bivolo wanted to kill you because you’re…” He trailed off and waved a hand at Snart.

Snart smirked, leaning against the table. “A queer as the day is long?” he supplied. “Seems that way.”

Barry was taken aback. “Your own partners would _kill_ you for that?”

Lisa scoffed. “Come on, Flash, you could probably imagine the criminal underworld isn’t the least homophobic place ever.”

“It has been a while, though,” Snart said. “The younger ones are usually far less concerned with me not being that picky about what’s in somebody’s pants, but not those two, I guess.” He leaned back, looking at Lisa. “Pretty sure it’s been at least five years since the last attempt to beat my ass for not being totally straight.”

“Probably,” Lisa agreed.

Cisco held up a hand. “So, just for the sake of certainty… you’re _not_ straight?” he asked, and Barry rolled his eyes at Cisco.

Snart raised an eyebrow and smirked. “You’re cute, but you’re about half my age, Ramon, sorry, not interested,” he said, making Cisco splutter and flush.

“No, what- I- That’s so not-“

“Besides, I already called dibs,” Lisa said, looping an arm around Cisco’s shoulders. “Right, Cisco?” she asked, fluttering her eyelashes at him.

Iris looked around at them all and then hummed. “Well. This was educational. I’m going home, though. B- Flash, you need a ride?” she asked, and Barry shook his head.

“I’ll stay here tonight.” He gave Snart a skeptical look. “Truce or not, injured or not, leaving not one but two Snarts around tons of expensive equipment sounds like a bad idea without someone besides Caitlin and Cisco.”

Snart sighed, hand on his side as he stood up straight. “As much as I’d love to, I think I’m getting too old to steal things while injured,” he said, shuffling towards Caitlin. “If you’re keeping me over night, I assume you have somewhere I can lie down?” he asked her, and Barry was surprised to see actual signs of pain on his face.

Caitlin nodded. “Right this way,” she said, leading him towards the makeshift bunk room they had put together for when they worked through the night and needed to crash for a few hours.

~

Barry stood in the doorway watching after Caitlin woke Snart up, following concussion protocol, and then let him lie back down. Barry let Caitlin pass and walked into the room, hovering some as he looked over at where Lisa was curled up asleep on the other cot. “It’s weird. Having someone that doesn’t heal fast. Caitlin never has to actually do the waking up thing.”

Snart grunted some as he shifted, curling his arms under his head. “Glad to entertain, Scarlet.”

Barry looked at his bruised up face. “Was it really just homophobia?” he asked carefully.

Snart chuckled, but nodded. “It really was. I had no reason to lie.” He winced as he crossed his long, thin legs at the ankle. “I got conned. How funny is that?” he asked, looking up at Barry with an amused twist to his lips. “See what happens when I go good for a little while? I get conned by a pair of metahumans who don’t like my lack of shits to give about the gender of people I sleep with.”

Barry nodded, looking over at Lisa. “When you said it’d been about five years and she agreed… does that mean this has happened more than twice?” he asked him.

Snart looked at him, raising an eyebrow in surprise. “Oh Bartholomew. You have led a very different life than me, Red,” he said wryly. “Yes,” he said simply, chuckling. “Many times. Pretty much every time people figure out I sleep with anybody other than women.”

“Seriously?” Barry asked, eyes wide. “Man, I didn’t even get my ass kicked in high school, and I _tap danced_ ,” he stressed. “I took a boy to _prom_.”

Snart gave him a long, somewhat amused look, searching his features. “And let me guess, that happened in the twenty-first century,” he said plainly.

Barry rolled his eyes, settling in the chair between the two beds, sprawling some since he wasn’t in his suit. “Yes, _Leonard_ ,” he mocked right back. “But it’s still high school.”

“I didn’t go to high school,” Snart admitted, looking over at Barry across his arm, hands still beneath his head. “I did my first heist in nineteen eighty.” He smiled bitterly. “I was eight years old.”

Barry’s eyes widened. “ _What_? How?”

“My old man,” Snart said, tilting his head. “You remember him.” He sighed, looking up at the ceiling. “He took me with him on robberies. Made me take care of alarms and locks. I could disable a security system around the same age most kids were learning multiplication. When Lisa was born, my father went to jail again, this time for beating Lisa’s mother while she was pregnant,” he explained. “He’d already murdered my mother by then,” he added mildly, as if he wasn’t admitting a horrible childhood trauma. 

Barry looked over at Lisa. “You guys don’t have the same mom?” he asked, and was startled by a surprised laugh. He looked back at Snart, and saw he was smiling at him, a real smile. 

“Why yes, Kid, my biracial ass and my white sister definitely had both the same parents,” he said sarcastically, and Barry flushed, but smiled sheepishly.

“Oh. Yeah. I didn’t really think about that,” he said, ruffling his hair. “Also ‘Kid’? Really?” He made a face.

Snart shrugged. “At least I don’t call you ‘Allen’ all the time. The name is Len, FYI.” He sighed. “Hell, I prefer ‘Cold’ to ‘Snart’,” he added. “Cold isn’t the name of the man who murdered my mother, after all.”

Barry smiled apologetically. “Sorry. Len,” he said, making a face at how weird that sounded. “Not a Leo, then?”

Sna- Len stilled, shaking his head silently. “My dear old Dad called me Leo. Fuck that name,” he said violently. He closed his eyes, taking a breath that visibly expanded his cheat. “When my father went to prison after beating Lisa’s mom, Lisa was born and our Grandfather took care of us for a few years until Lewis got out of prison again. Lisa’s mother split as soon as she was born, but I don’t blame her,” he said simply. “You asked about the multiple beatings for being queer?” He looked over at him. “First one was my father. I was thirteen and Lisa was two and I let her put a tiara on me while I played with her. My father beat the shit out of me for letting my two year old sister put a girl’s tiara on my head because ‘he wouldn’t have a fag for a son’.” He shook his head. “He didn’t hurt Lisa then, so I didn’t mind much that he hurt me if he didn’t hurt her. I took care of her. I raised her,” he stressed. “I would take all the beatings for being a ‘fag’ if it meant protecting her.”

Barry shook his head, rubbing at his face. “I just- I can’t imagine it. Thirteen. Did you even _know_ -“

“Of course not,” Len said, rolling his eyes. “I still thought kissing gave you cooties then.”

Barry couldn’t help snickering. “Captain Cold just said ‘cooties’,” he said, and Len snorted, shaking his head. Barry looked at him closely. “You said you didn’t go to high school. Why not?” he asked.

“Because when I would’ve started, I was in juvie,” Len said with a wry grin. “My father and his crew let me take the fall when we got caught robbing a bank. I met Mick in juvie,” he added. “Actually, because of another gay-bashing,” he added. “Locked up, all the other kids smuggled in porn and shit, and I heard them talking about sex all the time, and I still wasn’t really interested, but it got me to thinking, and I started noticing how pretty a few of the other boys were,” he said, shrugging. “I was the skinny, tiny kid. Most of the rest of them were sixteen to eighteen, and I was fourteen and tiny. One of them caught me looking at his lips when he talked,” he said simply. “I’d got my ass kicked a lot already for just being the smallest kid in lockup, but when it got out I was ‘a little faggot’, they started planning to shank me.”

Barry gaped. “Jesus Christ!”

Len nodded. “They were giving me a solid beat-down, and Mick caught the guy with the shank and beat the shit out of him, jumped in and saved the scrawny kid getting his ass kicked. Even then, Mick was huge, so with him on my side, I was alright until I got out a year later.” He waved a hand. “By then, my father was in prison again. I got my sister out of the home they’d stuck her in, Mick was released same time as me, and the three of us took off. Two teenage boys and a five year old girl on a crime spree.” He smirked. “Never looked back.” He glanced over at Barry. “Tap dancing is cute, but I was pulling off art heists.” He held up one finger. “Also, it was the late eighties, so there were tons of drugs to steal and re-sell at a higher price. And a ton of people ready to beat the shit out of the AIDS-riddled queers, even if they were teenage virgins,” he added with a joking smile that made Barry’s heart sink.

He looked at Len for a long time. “You were just a kid,” he said softly. “All that suffering, all that pain… you were a child.” He shook his head. “You still call bullshit when I say there’s good in you, Len, but you never had a chance. That doesn’t make you bad. It just makes you a victim of circumstance. Look at Lisa,” he added. “You raised her on your own most of the time. You and Mick were all she had and she turned out alright.”

Len raised an eyebrow. “Yes, we’re such a good little family of criminals and murderers,” he drawled flatly.

Barry sat back in his seat, arms crossed behind his head, mirroring Len on the bed. He looked over at him silently and Len raised an eyebrow. Barry grinned. “I wasn’t born until ninety,” he said, and Len groaned dramatically.

“I’m old enough to be your _father_ ,” Len sighed dramatically. “Oh, Kid.” He spread his arms out to the side, holding out the pillow from beneath him to Barry. “Just put me out of my misery, Scarlet.”

Barry laughed, snatching the pillow to throw back at his face. Len caught it and tucked it back under his head. Barry leaned his head against the back of the chair, stretching his legs out. “You’re not old,” he dismissed. “I’m pretty sure I have more forehead wrinkles than you do on your entire face.” He looked over at Len, examining his face. “Your hair’s the only real tell, and it looks good on you. Especially with your persona.” He looked down his body, the way his tee-shirt showed clear muscle definition, even if there was a slight softness over the muscles around his middle that only men of a certain age had, and his long, thin legs. “You have really long legs,” he said without thinking. “I’m pretty sure I’m taller than you, but your legs…”

Len chuckled, low in his throat, and raised on leg, making a show of it. “Are you checking out my legs, Barry?” he asked teasingly.

Barry’s eyes darted up to Len’s face and he flushed. “What, no, I just- you have long legs and I never noticed.”

“Barry, Barry, Barry,” Len purred, clucking his tongue as he slowly shook his head. “What would your fans think? The Flash’s pretty green eyes straying to Captain Cold’s villainous legs.”

Barry glared, crossing his arms over his chest. “You’re not a villain anymore, Len,” he argued, cheeks still pink. “Also, who the legs are attached to doesn’t mean they aren’t still attractive. You can be an attractive man no matter whether you’re evil or not, and nobody could judge me.”

Len grinned. “Attractive, huh.”

Barry groaned, putting a hand over his face. “Of course you’re attractive. Shut up. Leave me alone. I hate you.”

“Not my long legs, though, huh?” Len teased and Barry slumped further in the chair. “You’re too cute, Red,” he chuckled.

Barry looked up at him grumpily. “I lied. You’re totally evil.”

“He’s flirting, that’s what he’s doing.”

Both Barry and Len startled, turning to look at Lisa, who lay on her side, head propped up with one elbow. “So. The cute coffee shop cop is The Flash, huh,” she said, winking. “Should’ve guessed.”

“Jesus, Lisa, you nearly gave the kid a heart attack,” Len chastised.

Lisa shrugged. “You were gonna give him a stroke with how red he’s turning,” she said simply. She looked Barry over. “I approve, Big Brother. He’s a cutie.”

Len chuckled, shaking his head. “Lisa, he’s younger than you are.”

She shrugged. “So? He’s legal.” She looked at Barry again. “At least I think. You are legal, right?”

“I’m twenty-s-“

“Twenty something, great! Legal. You can totally date my brother,” she said with a sense of finality.

Barry spluttered. “I’m not- that’s not- Len and I are not-“ He flailed some in his rush to sit up. “No, okay. Just. This is not that sort of thing!” He groaned. “All I said was that he’s hot!”

Len smirked. “Actually, I’d say I’m pretty cool,” he said and Barry turned to him and glared.

“You are one pun away from me turning your own gun on you,” he threatened, but it was an empty threat. Barry stood up. “I’m going to go now. Probably kill myself. You two go back to sleep. Len needs to sleep more before Caitlin can release him. Say goodbye to my corpse in the morning after I die of embarrassment.”

Len smirked and wiggled his fingers at Barry. “Goodnight, Barry. Be sure to tell me all about the dreams involving my legs you have tomorrow,” he teased and Barry turned back to glare at him from the doorway.

“Kill you. Dead,” he said firmly before turning and walking away, hands over his face as he tried to cool the flush threatened to set his skin aflame.


End file.
